Raul Castro visiting Moscow
Chairman of the Cuban State Council and the Council of Ministers of Cuba Raul Castro arrived in Moscow yesterday. He will be staying in Moscow for a whole week and will meet with President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who will return from Davos before Mr Castro's departure from Moscow. According to Kommersant's information, the Cuban leader is hoping to receive a $250 million loan from Moscow and sign a series of agreements "in various fields of cooperation".
Mr Castro is visiting Moscow for the first time in the last 25 years - his most recent visit to Moscow was in March 1985. The Cuban leader does not travel frequently, but whenever he is on a foreign trip, he usually stays for a long time. In Moscow he will stay until February 4 and will have numerous meetings, including meetings with President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin. The Russian Prime Minister will have returned from Davos before the Cuban leader's departure.
On the eve of the visit, Cuba made a series of statements emphasizing the growing friendship between the people of Cuba and Russia. Cuba's ambassador to Russia Juan Valdes Figeroa said, for example, that the visit would be a "truly historic event," and that the meeting between Chairman Castro and President Medvedev "would be a meeting of two brothers."
In an interview with the Itar-Tass news agency, Mr Castro described the relations between Cuba and Russia as "wonderful" and promised to further strengthen them during his visit to Moscow. He also said that Cuba was critical of NATO extension toward Russia's borders and that Havana stood in favour of a multi-polar world, which should have pleased Moscow.
Russia also called Mr Castro's visit "historic". "The last time Raul Castro visited Moscow was in 1985; his current visit demonstrates that the historical circumstances have changed to allow him to visit Moscow again," Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said. Mr. Sechin is the co-chairman of the Russian-Cuban intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technological cooperation. At its latest meeting in Moscow on January 23, the commission prepared a package of agreements that are expected to be signed during Mr Castro's meetings with President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin on January 30 and February 2, respectively. Mr Sechin did not specify the type of documents the parties were expected to sign, saying only that they covered "various aspects of cooperation".
Russian officials, however, are not very satisfied with the level of trade relations with Cuba. Foreign Minister Lavrov, for example, told Prensa Latina news agency recently that the trade volume between Cuba and Russia was just $300 million.
One of the key topics of the Russian-Cuban talks will be the extension of a new loan to Cuba. Kommersant has learned from sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry that Cuba is hoping to borrow about $250 million from Russia. In 2006, Russia loaned Cuba more than $300 million to pay for Russian exports, and now Havana is hoping to receive a new loan.
Nikolai Filchenko